There are unquestionably certain moments in the course of one’s playing career where they reach real epiphanies when it comes to their playing. These moments are of real consequence, and can actually represent key times when your relationship to your instrument takes some real forward leaps!

I know that I have had some of these revelations at certain moments that have really had true meaning to me, and left lasting impressions. Keep in mind that this in no way means that you’ve mastered the instrument, but they are definitely times when your relationship to and with the guitar grows, and reaches a new level. I can remember one specific time when I was still very young and I was sitting around the house, playing my heart out as usual…well sure enough, it suddenly dawned on me that whatever I was feeling, I was able to play and express on the guitar, with little or no thought even involved!

I was still perhaps only 22 years old at the time, but it really dawned on me that the guitar and I had become “one”, and even though I still had a lot to learn (don’t we always?), I felt as if anything was now possible for me, and that the sky was truly the limit. I’m sure you too have had similar moments of realization, and it’s quite a feeling, isn’t it? It’s like you’re learning a new language and have finally reached a point with it where you can really communicate with it. Music is a unique language, and each instrument has its own special set of rules and ways of making that language work. The guitar is perhaps the most “vocal” of all the instruments since we can so manipulate it and mold it to what we are trying to say. Thanks to bending, vibrato, hammers, pulls, sliding and on and on, we are blessed with such an array of techniques that almost all other kinds of players can become extremely jealous! Keyboard players had to invent a “pitch wheel” to simulate our natural bending as well as vibrato, and wind instrument players can only dream of playing multiple notes together as we can. Again another severe case of “Guitar envy!”

In any event, I am sure to continue to have many guitar ”revelations” in the future, and I certainly hope you too can continue too. These moments are real steps that are always in the right direction, and represent true growth for you as a player, a musician and also as a person in general. Be sure to “listen in” closely, as these revelations are there for a reason. Make the most of them!